35 U.S.C. § 284 — Damages

When a court finds for the person claiming patent infringement, it must award damages enough to make up for the infringement. That amount can never be less than a reasonable royalty for how the infringer used the invention, plus interest and court costs the court sets. If a jury doesn't decide the damages, the court must decide them itself. The court can then increase the damages up to three times the amount found or assessed. But this tripling doesn't apply to "provisional rights" damages — the special damages available under 35 U.S.C. § 154(d) for infringement that happened before a patent was granted, based on the published application. The court may also hear expert testimony to help decide the damages, or what royalty would be reasonable given the circumstances.